GOTHIC ART

Gothic art corresponds to the Middle Ages, Romanesque below. It is a dynamic period from the socioeconomic point of view, very varied, with intensive contacts with the East through the Crusades and trade routes.
This is a European artistic styles with time limits ranging from about 1140 and the last decades of the sixteenth century, depending on the geographical area.
Today it is considered one of the most important moments from the artistic point of view in Europe.
It was an art that was applied in the field of civil and religious architecture, sculpture, stained glass, mural painting and table, the illuminated manuscripts and various decorative arts.
Gothic art. cathedrals
The term Gothic was first used by wealthy Renaissance, in the pejorative sense, to refer to the art of the Middle Ages, which they considered inferior and Barbarian (gothic derived from Godo) compared to classical art.

Despite being a continuation of Romanesque, Gothic in quite different and even opposite attitudes are appreciated. If the Romanesque is known for his dark and recollection, the Gothic implies the opposite, light, color, elevation, expressivity and naturalism.

Gothic, like all artistic styles, has regional variants. As examples we can mention the school francesadonde emphasize the cathedrals of Notre-Dame de Paris, Sens, Chartres, Laon, Reims and Amiens or Saint-Chapelle built by St. Louis.
The Spanish school noted for the cathedrals of Leon, Burgos, Toledo, Gerona, Barcelona or Seville.
Portuguese School with Belem and Batalha monasteries or the church of the Order of Christ in Thomar.
Germany is famous for the cathedral of Cologne, Strasbourg and Ulm. While in England it has the cathedrals of Gloucester, Salisbury or Lincoln.
As for the Italian school, we can differentiate a revolutionary gothic, against traditional in the Cathedral of Santa Maria de las Flores Florence, or closer to the European Gothic and Milan Cathedral style.

From: http://www.historiayarte.net/a-arte-gotico.html